P-Funk Artist Pedro Bell Benefit + Fund

Miracle for a Maggot: Funkraiser for P-Funk Graphic Artist Pedro Bell concert on Saturday iintended to raise much-needed funds; Donation details below

By Fred Mills

Black rock website Bold As Love is reporting that this Saturday night, Jan. 2, at New York's Santos Party House there will be a fundraiser for legendary artist Pedro Bell - who, if the name doesn't click right off with you, surely the images displayed here will. Bell of course was the designer behind many of those mindblowing Funkadelic and Parliament LP sleeves (not to mention the equally brain-blasting Sun Ra cover, below). The concert is being called "Miracle for a Maggot: Funkraiser for P-Funk Graphic Artist Pedro Bell."

Doing Funkadelic and Jimi Hendrix classics will be keyboard maestro Bernie Worrell (who was in Funkadelic, natch), guitarists Ronny Drayton (Nona Hendryx, Defunkt) and Andre Lassalle (Burnt Sugar), bassist Melvin Gibbs (Elevated Entity, SociaLybrium, Rollins Band), J.T. Lewis (SociaLybrium) on drums and Kelsey Warren (Pillow Theory) on vocals. Proceed will go to a fund that is being established by the Black Rock Coalition to help Bell out.

According to Bold As Love:

Bell, whose subversive and psychedelic work has appeared on every Funkadelic album cover since "Cosmic Slop," has been in extremely poor health and living a life a virtual squalor in his native Chicago. Bell has seriously considered selling off his collection in order to cover his medical and living expenses.

The Black Rock Coalition hopes to raise money to help offset Bell's costs and place the artist in a more stable living environment for the time being. The BRC also hopes to help Bell retain his collection while helping his family develop opportunities to best use his in-demand works.

Santos Party House is at 96 Lafayette Street between White and Canal Streets. Tickets are only $15 and the show starts at 8pm. Details: www.santospartyhouse.com.

We're also advised that people unable to attend can still make a donation via PayPal:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10581525